HEBRON — A Cinergy gas line was ruptured by a crew installing a utility pole near Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport Tuesday morning, sending flames 40 feet into the air.

        No one was injured in the 9 a.m. explosion at the intersection of Ky. 212 and Petersburg Road. Flame from the blast destroyed the crew's utility truck, melted the the vinyl siding on the car rental company's office and damaged two cars.

        Damage was estimated at $110,000.

Stanley Henderson walks past the burning wreckage of his utility truck, which caught fire when a drill hit a natural gas line. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        “It's something you would expect to see on TV and never in real life,” said Leah Miller, who watched the explosion from the window at Thrifty Car Rental, less than 100 yards away. “... It looked like a mushroom. It was huge.”

        Ms. Miller said she watched two workers run from their utility truck just seconds before flames shot from the ground. The 13-year employee of the car rental company called 911 before dropping the phone and running for safety out the back of the building.

        Two nearby businesses, ValAir Valet Parking and Thrifty Car Rental, were evacuated.

        Thrifty customers were redirected to Dollar Rent A Car. Gas service was cut off to about 10 nearby homes and the two businesses evacuated.

        The two crewmen who escaped injury were Stanley Henderson and Lon Cain, employees of Blue grass Electric Consultants of Boone County, county police spokesman Lt. Jack Banks said. Mr. Henderson, operator of the truck, declined comment.

        The drill bit rupturing the 8 inch gas main didn't ignite the natural gas, said Lt. Jack Banks, adding that the utility truck's running engine caused the fire.

        Police are investigating to see if the gas line was properly marked.

        The intersection was reopened by 1 p.m. Traffic to the nearby Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport was not blocked.

        “Hypothetically, this could have been a lot worse,” said Lt. Banks. “The responding agencies did a great job. ”
       

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